The Global War Against the German 'Enemy Alien': Internment in the British Empire, 1914 - 1920

Join us for the latest in the Legacies of War seminar series, when we welcome speaker Panikos Panayi, Professor of European History at De Montfort University, Leicester.

During the First World War the British Empire interned tens of thousands of German enemy aliens. The centre of this system of incarceration lay in Knockaloe on the Isle of Man, the centre of a spider’s web which trapped Germans throughout the world. Panayi’s lecture will illustrate the extent of this web which stretched from Sydney to Newfoundland.

Making particular use of personal narratives, Panayi will also discuss the experiences of those affected in the form of: long-term German residents living throughout British imperial possessions; Germans captured at sea by the Royal Navy; and enemy aliens who found themselves in British ports. A vast system of transportation accompanied the worldwide camps. Panayi will explain the evolution of the global incarceration and transportation system by examining the impact of the Great War on minorities and by placing the events of the First World War into the history of transportation and the early history of the concentration camp.

Panikos Panayi is Professor of European History at De Montfort University, Leicester. He has worked at De Montfort University since 1990 and has held a personal Chair since 1999. He has published widely and his research fits into three areas in particular: the history of immigration and interethnic relations; the history of food; and the First World War.

The venue for this talk is Room G.04, School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University Road, University of Leeds. See here for a campus map.
The event is free and all are welcome.

This seminar is in connection with Legacies of War, organised by the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies as part of the spring research seminar series.